Weekly Progress Report #1

Weekly Progress Report #1
Adnan Khan and Noah Borel
10/25/15


Progress:
1. Overall System Diagram and Plan Created:
 -   Both the Vision System team and the Interception System team have created a system diagram of the major aspects of the entire drone defense system. An order of events has been made according to the system diagram and tasks have been assigned. 
 -   We will be using a normal webcam for the beginning to just get familiar with how the drone detection will work. Then, after we can track with a webcam, we will look into the Amcrest cameras.

2. OpenCV:
 -   Research has been done into downloading OpenCV and connecting it with a development software.
Commonly used development software: Microsoft Visual Studio, Python
Links: 1. https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/visual-studio-homepage-vs.aspx
           2. https://www.python.org

3. Drone Detection:
 -   Research has been made into what will be done once the development software is up and running and how the drone will be tracked.
 -   RGB (red, green, blue) colored image that is taken is converted into HSV (hue, saturation, value) to get more distinction in the resulting image.
 -   HSV image is altered with thresholds to isolate the drone. If drone is a certain distinct HSV color, then thresholds can help to isolate it so that the range of HSV of the drone is only only seen. Lastly, this image is converted to a binary image of white and black where the thresholds help to only reveal the drone.
Links: 1.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSeFrPrqZ2A
           2.  http://computer-vision-tutorials.blogspot.com/2014/03/opencv-tutorials-color-detection-object.html

















4. Compound Eye:
 -   Found book on Compound Eyes: "The Physiology of the Compound Eyes of Insects and Crustaceans" By Sigmund Exner. Even though the original book was written in 1891, it includes a deep study of the compound eye. The text has much more explanation than in a dissertation from a college student.

Problems:
 -   OpenCV: There are many options/paths that could be taken with which development software could be used. Some are able to use Mac OSX while others cannot. The options must be carefully looked through.

 -   Compound Eye: There is a lot of complicated math involved in the analysis of the compound eye. There are many variables and formulas that relate to the optics of the eye.

Plan:
 -   OpenCV: Do a study of the various development softwares and which one would be best considering which computers we will be using. Learn the process that must go into each software to link OpenCV.

 -   Drone Detection: Once the OpenCV step is complete, the coding for the drone detection can be implemented.

 -   Compound Eye: With any math or diagrams that seem to complicated, I will consult with Mr. Lin to better understand them.